Boston mourns bombing victims

11:45 PM, April 16, 2013

USA TODAY

BOSTON — The mood outside the gray wood-frame house on Carruth Street where the Richard family lives was quiet and somber Tuesday. An occasional neighbor, even strangers, approached with flowers and balloons and set them on the front steps. One group — two adults and two children — left balloons and held onto one another as they walked away.

The Richard family has become the tragic face of the Boston Marathon explosions.

Eight-year-old Martin Richard was pronounced dead at the scene, one of three people killed Monday and the first identified fatality. His mother, Denise Richard, and 6-year-old sister, Jane, were seriously injured.

According to WBZ-TV in Boston, Martin's father Bill Richard released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying, “My dear son Martin has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston. My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries. We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin. We also ask for your patience and for privacy as we work to simultaneously grieve and recover. Thank you.”

U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., has been friends with the Richards for more than two decades, says Conor Yunits, the congressman's spokesman.

“Their wives used to work together in a nursing home,” he says.

Yunits says that Bill Richard did not run in the marathon. “They were all there with his family as spectators,” Yunits says. “He is a runner, but I don't know why he didn't run.”

The Richards spend lots of time together and are friendly people, said neighbor Lily Huynh, who often saw the father, mother and an older son of about 10 out running together.

At Christmas, the family walks through the neighborhood with other members of their local church, the All Saints parish, and sings carols, Huynh said. Huynh said her daughter is friends with Martin Richard’s sister, Jane.

“They are really nice,” said Huynh, a pharmacist. “They're very friendly people.”

'An amazing person'

Krystle Campbell had worked as a manager at Jimmy's Steer House in Arlington, Mass., only a few months, but the 29-year-old had left an impression.

“She was an amazing person — fun-loving, cheerful, hard worker,” said co-manager Sheena Parent, just hours after Campbell's family had informed Parent that Krystle was one of at least three people killed in Monday’s bombings. The steak-and-seafood restaurant issued a statement that said co-workers were “saddened and shaken” by the loss.

Newsday reported that Campbell's father, William, told them his daughter had gone to near the end of the Boston Marathon's course to take pictures of a friend's boyfriend as he crossed the finish line. Newsday reported that doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital initially confused his daughter and the friend, and that his daughter was being operated on. When he went to see the woman, the paper said, he informed doctors that she was not his daughter. A detective later produced a photo of Krystle and informed the family she was one of those killed, according to Newsday.

Yahoo News reported that Krystle Campbell graduated from Medford, Mass., High School in 2001. William Campbell told Yahoo that “my daughter was the most lovable girl. She helped everybody and I'm just so shocked right now. We're just devastated.”

Grad student a victim

Boston University said the third victim was a graduate student who was watching the race with friends at the finish line, which is not far from the school.

The Chinese Consulate in New York said the victim was a Chinese national, though it did not identify the student. A Hong Kong broadcaster reported the student was a woman from Shenyang studying statistics. The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported her relatives have requested she not be identified.